"Upsee" Daisy!

Firefly Upsee

One of my friends heard about the Upsee and sent me a link knowing full well that it was right up our alley. I read the article and watched the video and immediately started looking for where I could buy this amazing product. Then I found out that it wasn't yet for sale - we would have to wait until April 7th to "click and buy."

The wait for the calendar to reach April felt longer than usual, but then last week I started to get really excited. I knew Emma would be getting her Upsee and that we would be walking together soon! Then the launch day came, and the Firefly servers went down. Since this was the first product of its kind and they were shipping worldwide, their servers were unable to handle the traffic and took some time before orders could be processed. After hours of periodically checking for their site to be up and running so I could complete the order, I finally had success! My order number was US10637 when all was said and done... a number that spoke volumes of how many other parents were out there trying to do the same for their kids.

After the order went through, I got an email a few days later explaining how they were doing their best to fill the orders, but that it could take up to twelve weeks before we would see our new Upsee. Again disappointed, I patiently waited because I knew that this was WELL worth the wait. 

Then, a week later, I got another email. This one gave me an estimation on when the Upsee would ship. It was to be dispatched on the week of May 26th. While this was within the original twelve week estimation, I was beginning to feel like a young child on Christmas Eve. I was struggling to keep my excitement in check and remain patient. The next month felt like a year, but then I got my email with shipping details - Emma's Upsee would be here on Friday, May 23rd!!! I couldn't believe it - just in time for Memorial Day Weekend. While Emma would be with my ex from Friday night until Sunday night for visitation, she was coming home for the holiday. This would be the perfect chance for us to try it out for the first time!

While Emma was gone, I practiced with the Upsee and got it all sized up for both of us. I knew when she got home on Sunday at 6PM that I would want to put her immediately in it and try it out. And that is exactly what we did! It was a little awkward the first time getting us all set up together, but we got it down. We walked up and down the main hallway of our house and around the front yard. There was a bunny in the yard and when she saw it, she started making kissing sounds at it. From that reaction, I knew she saw it and that she knew what it was. You see, she has a bin full of flash cars and corresponding items that she looks at daily (and has done so for well over a year now). In that bin, there is a rabbit stuffed animal and it loves to give her rabbit kisses. She used to push it away when it did, but she grew to like it.

Due to the time of day at that point, we had to go ahead and end our first Upsee day as it was time for her medicine, bath, and dinner. But I knew we would have all day on Memorial Day to practice walking together. I couldn't wait!

The next morning, we went to the Dallas World Aquarium. This was Emma's second time there, but the first time to stay awake for all of it. We took the Upsee with every intention of trying it out there, but with the rainy weather and all the people, we decided not to push her. So we enjoyed all the animals in the "jungle" as Emma kept calling it and stopped for lunch on our way home. After Emma had a nice nap, it was time to get Upsee Daisy!

While we are still working on our technique and stamina, she really seems to enjoy her new view of her world and curious about everything she sees. I love watching her discover things and I can't wait to see what she discovers next!

It's a JUNGLE Out There!

Today, Emma's class went on a field trip to Grapevine Mills Mall. This was Emma's first field trip, so I took off work so I could join in the fun. Since I was going, we just met everyone there instead of dropping her off at school to ride the bus over. It was so nice to finally officially meet some of her friends' parents. We all met up right outside the Rainforest Cafe and when we walked up to it, Emma said "jungle." I love how she is really starting to generalize and become more interested in her environment!

Once the bus arrived and her friends were inside, we took some pictures and started walking around. Emma was not in the mood to be in her stroller and wanted to touch so many things as we walked around. Instead, she ended up being passed around for almost every adult to take turns carrying her because she was leaning and reaching to see so many people. It was so exciting for me to see her so interested in meeting people she didn't know very well (the other parents)! It doesn't hurt that it also gave my arms a break from carrying around my adorable twenty-nine pound munchkin.

Looking at the sharks with her teacher.

Once we reached the food court, we stopped to ride on the carousel! This was the first time Emma had been on one, but I figured she might like the horse since she was enjoying her rides on Pooh Bear at SpiritHorse so much more now. She didn't seem comfortable on the horse and kept trying to get in my lap so we moved to a small carriage for the ride.

Sitting on the horse with Mommy.

Enjoying the ride!

Once the ride was over, it was snack time for all the kids. Emma had some yogurt and then we said goodbye to all her friends from school. While it would have been nice to stay and spend the entire day with all her friends, she was ready for nap time and I had to get to work. But we made some wonderful memories while it lasted!

The Things She Will Do for Pixar...

Admittedly, I am a very well trained parent when it comes to high dollar items with Emma... and she knows it! No matter if she is walking in her gait trainer, riding Pooh Bear, or drinking milk from her cup, Mommy will work for the big ticket items. She has learned that Mommy has all the Pixar short films on her phone and can walk next to Pooh Bear during hippotherapy, holding the phone so she can watch them. So today, she did what any other child who has a well trained parent, who is misbehaving, would do to get her parent back under control. She laid down on Pooh Bear every time we started to walk at the beginning of her ride. Her message was clear - it was time for Mommy to pay up.

I took her cue and pulled my phone out and started "For the Birds," which is one of her favorites. Finally, I got it right and she was finally ready to sit up like a big girl for her ride! Once that one ended, I did as I was supposed to, and pulled up the next one I could find as quickly as possible so as not to let her go too long without entertainment. The next one was "Knick Knack" which isn't one of her favorites, but she obliged since I was putting in the effort she had asked for. The next short film was "Lifted" and that one seemed to loose her interest as it was hard to see the dark screen in the sunshine. Since I was still going in alphabetical order, the next one was "Luxo Jr." and that one got her refocused because she loves the ball the little lamp plays with. Next came another favorite - "Partly Cloudy."

Once I started that film, I realized we had walked all the trails so much that I was starting to loose track of how far we had gone. I knew we were currently on her best ride to date, and that we had completely obliterated her previous record, but wasn't sure by how much as I didn't know the exact length of all of the movies. As the movie came to an end, Emma decided she was ready for a break and laid down. I looked back through at the movies we had played and added up the times and realized we were close to twenty minutes.

After she was ready to sit back up, we tried something new. We moved Emma's hands forward to a 2 point position and she willingly stayed there, holding up some of her weight through her arms! After that, we tried to get her to twist to reach around and touch Pooh Bear's rear. She again obliged, turning and touching him with both hands! Then we tried something even more difficult. We tried to get her to touch her hand to her opposite toes without laying down on Pooh Bear. She was close to touching her right hand to her left toes, but she DID touch her left hand to her right toes - without resting her head!!! At this point, we had only a couple minutes left for this therapy session, so we rode back and ended on a high note.

Yes, she is TOUCHING Pooh Bear - AND SMILING!

After we finished, I added up the times to get the final number - 20:06!!! I couldn't believe it - she more than DOUBLED her previous record! I had a little bit of a hard time not crying because I was so proud of her for working so hard, but I managed to keep it together. As soon as we were finished, I picked her up off of Pooh Bear and gave her the biggest hug. I am still on cloud nine hours afterwards and haven't stopped smiling. Once I got back to work, I had to share with everyone how well she did. And because I'm still so excited, I had to post this and share her accomplishments with her Hydro Family and Friends as well. Now to go post it up on a big billboard on the side of the freeway so I get to see it on my way to and from work every day! Good thing I have a coupon for paint...